This section explores the consumption of services in the United States on a broad basis. It includes such categories as personal services, business services, education,
health care, and insurance. Some of the data are presented in time series and some in state-by-state breakdowns. A wide course of variables is explored in
reference to the above categories, including such demographic and economic features as age, family income,
and educational level. The intent is to show as much
pertinent detail as is possible and available in order to
give the user a full sense of the scope of services consumed in the United States.

EXPLANATION OF INDICATORS

F1. Selected Personal Services: The first grouping presents data on personal services across a 10-year time
span from 1988 to 1997. The first chart and two tables
present data on aggregate sales receipts for personal services, and the second set of tables presents per capita
sales figures for the same indicators, allowing the user
to relate total sales to number of purchasers in the marketplace. The chart presents summary totals so that the
user may see the general growth patterns in spending on
personal services, and the tables present detailed breakdowns, including such subcategories as laundry, dry
cleaning, beauty salons, barber shops, and funeral services.

F2. Business Services: The next grouping--nine
charts--presents data on business services (Standard
Industrial Classification, or SIC, code 73) from 1985 to 1996. The data represent total sales receipts to taxable
firms and serve as an indication of the level of consumption of business services--both by individuals and other
businesses. The first chart shows the total of all subcategories and therefore offers the user the most general
picture of spending on business services over the 12-
year period. Legal services are included at the end of
this series even though they occupy their own SIC code
(81).

F3. Public Elementary and Secondary Education: The next grouping (one chart followed by four tables)
presents information on education--both money spent
on education and receipts used to cover those expenditures. The data are presented both in a mid-range time
series ( 1980 to 1997) and on a state-by-state basis; the
state-by-state info presents a snapshot of 1997.

The expenditure data show totals, per capita, and
per pupil, on an average daily attendance (ADA) basis;
these various permutations help the user understand how
the total spent spreads out across the student population
and how the total distributes across the number of pupils
on a daily basis. The data on receipts break down into
types of sources, including federal, state, local, and other.

F4. Availability and Use of Selected Teaching
Resources: The next set of four tables analyzes the share
of teaching resources available and used across several
variables, including gender of teacher, level of education, race, and size of school system. These tables help
users to analyze educational resources used according
to these key variables. They also invite comparisons between availability and use of various resources, thereby
allowing users to begin to analyze the functionality and,
perhaps, the productivity of resources.

F5. Institutions of Higher Education: The next set
(three charts and three tables) shows expenditures on
higher education, including tuition, room, and board. The
opening charts compare the average cost per pupil of
tuition and fees, room (dormitory), and board between
public and private institutions across a 13-year period
( 1985 to 1997). The tables detail the average cost of tuition, room, and board across types of institution, including the general breakdown between private and
public, with further detail covering two-year, four-year,
and over four-year institutions.

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